The legal tampering period wasn’t fun for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While the team dished out huge contracts left and right during the 2022 offseason, this year it watched from the sideline as other teams made big moves Monday and Tuesday. The Jaguars reportedly hoped to retain a few players due to hit the open market, but were unable to keep offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor or pass rusher Arden Key from cashing in elsewhere.
Taylor will leave to join the Kansas City Chiefs on a four-year, $80 million deal and Key is leaving to join the Jaguars’ division rival, the Tennessee Titans, on a three-year, $21 million deal.
It’d be way too expensive for the Jaguars to sign another starting right tackle to fill in for Taylor, but finding a new rotational pass rusher at a decent price is doable.
Here are five options who could give the Jacksonville pass rush a boost:
Jadeveon Clowney
The former No. 1 overall pick has become a mercenary in the back half of his NFL career. After spending his first five years with the Houston Texans, Clowney has made stops with the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, and Cleveland Browns in the last four seasons.
During his stint with the Browns, Clowney played on a pair of one-year deals worth $8 million and $10 million. But after giving Cleveland just two sacks during the 2022 season, his price tag might be a little cheaper.
The lackluster sack total doesn’t quite show the impact he made, though. Clowney missed five games, but still managed to notch 24 hurries.
If the Jaguars could get Clowney on a deal in the $5-8 million per year range, he’d be an easy fit as a rotational piece.
Melvin Ingram
The three-time Pro Bowler’s days as one of the NFL’s premier pass rushing threats are way in the rear view mirror.
Ingram’s nine-year run with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers ended with a knee injury ended a sack-less season in 2020. In the next season, he was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers and recorded only one sack with the team before he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.
After recording only one sack in nine regular season games with Kansas City, Ingram turned it on in the postseason with sacks in the AFC Championship and Super Bowl.
He parlayed that success into a six-sack season with the Miami Dolphins last year.
With his 34th birthday coming soon, Ingram’s on his last legs, but he’s shown he can provide a boost and it’d likely come cheap.
Kyle Van Noy
Key did a little bit of everything in the Jaguars defense, and versatility is Van Noy’s calling card.
After underwhelming as a linebacker with the Detroit Lions early in his career, Van Noy found a home with the New England Patriots where he was turned into a Swiss Army knife.
Van Noy has recorded at least five sacks in five of the last six year, including his 2022 season with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Bud Dupree
How about a Titans-Jaguars pass rusher swap?
Tennessee signed Dupree to a massive five-year, $82.5 million deal a couple years ago and got a grand total of eight sacks out of the deal. An abdominal injury kept him out of action for much of the 2021 season and he suffered a pectoral injury in 2022.
Prior to his injury-plagued years in Tennessee, Dupree had 19.5 sacks in his last two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
While his injury history will raise concerns, it’ll also make Dupree a cheap flyer option.
Leonard Floyd
If you’re looking for another Arden Key, Floyd is about as close to a parallel as there is on the market, but better. Both players are listed at 6’5, 240 and both are lauded for their motor, effort, and locker room presence.
Floyd, 30, was a disappointing top 10 draft pick for the Chicago Bears who notched only 18.5 sacks in four seasons. But in his three years with the Los Angeles Rams, Floyd racked up at least nine sacks each season.
Given his recent production, Floyd wouldn’t be the affordable option. Spotrac projected it’d cost in the $13-14 million per year range to land the pass rusher. Floyd may only make sense if the Jaguars make the gutsy decision to trade Josh Allen and need a new starter opposite Travon Walker.
